hartman



jy 15 QZ C, F, HARTMAN 2,503,204,

' TOY 'RING LAUNCHING DEVICE Filed oct. 28, 1949 CLARENCE F. HARTMAN BY @MMX- V ATTO NE Patented July 15, 1952 rmt 2,603,294 Y 'roy amo LAUNo'niNG Device Clarence IrHart-man, Silverton, Ohio amenacen ocre-filer 2a, 194e; serial Niainse This invention relates to a toy ring-launching device. 1H L' An object of the invention is to provide a toy which may simulate"areann and"which will forcibly propel, launch 'or'eject airingl'like proi' claims. ((1124-17) jectilewhich is given ai reverse spin incident-'to being expelled; from the device.

In those .instances wherein the projectile is launched in a' vertical plane upon a supporting surface, such as a noor, it willitravel awayfrom the operator'untilyits forward motion is overn come'by' the reverse spin ofthe ring,`whereupon it will automatically' returnV to 'the' operator, thereby providingyatboomerang effect,

In thosel instances wherein the Yprojectile is launchedin a horizontal plane, the reverse 'spin will'impart a gyroscopic eiTect whichk will maintain the projectile in a' horizontalplane'throughout its flight,v thereby 'adaptinglit foruse with various ring-toss games.

--Anothercbjectroi the invention is to provide a toy ring-launchingv device'wherein'an 'elastic band isutilized as the vringlaunching andspin- 'ning media.

A'urther objectl of the invention is to provide a toyY ring-launching device `which sturdily constructed in such a manner as to provide' an inexpensive quality toy item which may be manu-s factured using modernV inass-production"techu niques;

lStill a further object of the invention is to vprovide a ldevice having *the hereinabove `de" scribed characteristics and which will positively retain a ring-like projectileagainst accidental or unintentional ejectionl until'launched by' a positivefact on the part of an operator.

'Theseand other objects are attained by the means described herein" and as disclosed V'in vthe accompanying drawingsin which:` 'Fig. 1 is a side elevation of adevice embodying the teachings of the present, invention. *j

Fig-2 is a longiimdinal section View of the device of Eig. i with the operating parts shifted to a ring-launching position, Y

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

With reference now toFigs. 1 and 2, it will be noted that the device may simulate a rearrn, including a hand grip portion iii terminating in a forwardly and downwardly projecting substantially quadrantal arc-shaped housing i2 which may be considered as including bottom walls le and l5 and a pairk of laterally spaced side walls I8 which collectively dennev a substantially U-shaped base vortrack member din mensioned to receive a portion of rim I9 of a ring-like projectile denoted generally by the numeral 20. i.

It will be observed that bottom Wall I4 is substantially horizontal, whereas Wall I6 is arcuate,

lgenerauyty the'numeral at.'

approximating the contour of housing Edge 22, from which'it is laterally spaced/see Fig. 2. Walls 14 and i5 are' notcontinuous, being spaced as'at24.

""'An' actuator element denotedgenerally by the numeral '36)L is provided in 'slidable overlapping relationshipw'ithbottom wall id; Element' 3i! may be'fabricated from a length of nat resilient spring stock, one en d of which may be pivotally securedrv as at 32 to a trigger member" denoted In *the kpreferred embodiment of the invention the inner end of the actuator element `may be provided with a looped portion 36 dimensioned to be loosely received Within a complementary circular notch portion 38 of the trigger. Ihe trigger member may be pivotally secured as fat di) to handgrip portion Ill. 1

A spring-'A2, one end of which may be aflixed tojtrigger 34 as at 44 and thev other en d I,fixed relative 'toghousing Iii as at 45 maybe provided iorA normally and' yieldably' urging VAthe trigger to the'iully retracted position illustrated A1n Eig:

'l'. A stop element 48 may be provided for lirnit= ing the rearward travel of the trigger. 'n

As best disclosed in Fig. 2j, thejf'orward portion of actuator element passes'under andis de= iiected downwardlyrby the free lowerend l'oi i wall II6,r thence 'onto'andfarcr'oss bottom Awall I4.

*The upper end of ythe housing f is" provided with anfabutment 52, which preferably extends forwardly from the V'ripper portion of wall I5, *as illustrated 'f- With reference now to Fig. l, it will Vbe noted thatwhen'- thering-likeprcjectile 2U is received withinthe U-shaped base or track member, w'illrest upon actuatorelementl, engage abutu ment 52 and bernaintained in the plane of side wailsi. Y

'f'lhe projectile may be yieldably retained in thispositio'n by means 'of an elastic band' S53 which may befsecured tou and carried by the outer or forward rend oi housing' I2. For' conu venience of" assembly and ease -of replacement ofthe band, va bandfre'ceptive T-slotz maybe provided as best illustrated in Figi. u

""Theph'ysical characteristics oi band S0 are such as to-enableit to vbestretthed, over ring 2li." When the band'is. located in the diametrio relationship with the ringas illustratedy in Fig, 1k, it will yield'ably position the -ring condition of eduililoriumy with respect-,tothe base or track member, that is, lt`l1e ring willl have a vtendency to remain in a condition of status quoin aplane in parallelism withside walls'l8.- 'f ----When Yit is desired to launch ring 20, trigger 34 is -pulled formovingactuator element 30 forwardlyA over bottom'wall` I4 for imparting a turn ing force to the ring which will shift the upper end of the band toward the hand grip portion and out of its diametrlc relationship with the ring. As the band is thus shifted toward the hand grip portion, its potential energy will be transferred to kinetic energy as the band suddenly snaps downwardly for imparting a combined spinning and ejecting force to the ring sufficient to propel it forwardly from the housing.

The ring, if launched in a vertical plane, will move outwardly on a floor or other supporting surface until its forward motion has been overcome by the reverse spin of the ring, whereupon it will automatically roll back along its initial path toward the operator.

When the ring has been launched in a horizontal position, the back spin imparted thereto, incident to its launching operation, will impart a gyroscopic effect to the ring which will maintain it in a horizontal plane throughout its flight, thereby enabling the ring to be successfully used in various ring-toss games such as, by way of example, quoits, ring-the-clowns-nose, and the like.

I have observed that best results are obtained when the ring projectile is supported in two places located approximately 90 degrees apart, such as at abutment 52 and actuator element 3G which overlies bottom wall I4, however, I do not 4wish to be limited to such relationship, it being understood that abutment 52 could, if desired, be omitted, whereupon a substantial portion of the outer periphery of rim I9 would .be engaged by the launching device. Wall I6 and wall 10, as illustrated in Fig. 2, serve to eiTectively close off the interior of the housing against the insertion of foreign objects which might impair the operating characteristics of the device. In this connection it should be understood that wall I6 could be omitted and a laterally projecting abutment element provided in lieu of lower end D of wall I6.

What is claimed is:

1. A ring projectile launching device comprising a hand grip portion including a forwardly and downwardly projecting housing defined by a bottom wall and a pair of laterallyvspaced side walls dimensioned to receive a portion of the rim of a ring projectile, an actuator element located in said housing between the side walls and slidably engaging the bottom wall thereof', an elastic band secured to and carried by the forward end of said housing, said band stretchable over and in diametrlc relationship with a ring seated in said housing for yieldably urging it against said actuator element and for disposing it in a plane in parallelism with the side walls of said housing, and means operable from the hand grip portion for shifting said element axially of said ring housing for rotating said ring within and relative to said housing for shifting said band from its diametrlc relationship with the ring toward said hand grip portion for simultaneously applying a spinning and propelling force to the ring suicient to eject it from the housing.

2. A ring projectile launching device comprising a hand grip portion including a forwardly and downwardly projecting housing defined by a bottom wall and a pair of laterally spaced side walls dimensioned to receive a portion of the rim of a ring projectile, an abutment spanning said side walls remote from said bottom wall, an actuator element located in said housing between the side walls and slidably engaging the bottom wall thereof, an elastic band secured to and carried by the forward end of said housing, said band stretchable over and in diametrlc relationship with a ring seated in said housing for yieldably urging it against said actuator element and abutment for disposing it in a plane in parallelism with the side walls of said housing, and means operable from the hand grip portion for shifting said element axially of said ring housing for rotating said ring within and relative to said housing for shifting said band from its diametrlc relationship with the ring toward said hand grip portion for simultaneously applying a, spinning and propelling force to the ring sufficient to eject it from the housing.

3. A ring projectile launching device comprising a hand grip portion including a forwardly and downwardly projecting housing deilned by a bottom wall and a pair of laterally spaced side walls dimensioned to receive a portion of the rim of a ring projectile, an actuator element located in said housing between the side walls and slidably engaging the bottom wall thereof, means operable for maintaining said element in contacting relationship with said bottom wall, an elastic band secured to and carried by the forward end of said housing, said band stretchable over and in diametrlc relationship with a ring seated in said housing for yieldably urging it against said actuator element and for disposing it in a plane in parallelism with the side walls ot said housing, and means operable from the hand grip portion for shifting said element axially of said ring housing for rotating said ring within and relative to said housing for shifting said band from its diametric relationship with the ring toward said hand grip portion for simultaneously applying a spinning and propelling force to the ring suiicient to eject it from the housing.

4. A ring projectile launching device comprising a hand grip portion including a forwardly projecting, channeled, substantially quadrantal arc shaped member dimensioned to receive the peripheral portion approximating one quadrant of the rim of a ring projectile, a continuous one piece elastic band secured to and carried by that end of the member remote from the hand grip portion, said band stretchable over and in diametric relationship with said ring for positioning it in endwise upstanding relationship on said member and in a condition of equilibrium with respect thereto. reciprocable means disposed in said channel engageable by the ring received in said member, and means for imparting linear movement to said reciprocable means for rotating said ring relative to said member for shifting said band rearwardly toward the hand grip portion out of its diametric relationship with said ring for applying a combined rotating and compelling force to the ring to bodily eject it from said device.

CLARENCE F. HARTMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,281,236 Vincent Oct. 8, 1918 1,738,938 Baldwin Dec. 10, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 6,436 Great Britain Mar. 14, 1911 

